Pitkin County Courthouse
| Pitkin County Courthouse | |||
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| National Register of Historic Places | |||
 South facade of the Pitkin County Courthouse, 2010 |
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| location | Aspen , Pitkin County , Colorado | ||
| Coordinates | 39 ° 11 '26 " N , 106 ° 49' 4" W | ||
| Built | 1890 | ||
| architect | William Quayle | ||
| Architectural style | Victorian | ||
| NRHP number | 75000531 | ||
| The NRHP added | 1975 | ||
The Pitkin County Courthouse is the Courthouse of Pitkin County in Aspen , State of Colorado . It is located on East Main Street ( Colorado State Highway 82 ) and is used as a courthouse and county seat. The sheriff's office is also located here .
The Pitkin County Courthouse was built in the late 19th century and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
architecture
The Pitkin County Courthouse was designed in a Victorian style . It's about five meters back from the road. The building is essentially two-story and made of brick in a stretcher bond.
The south facade is consistently divided into colossal pilasters and characterized by arched windows in the rear. Two narrow window cornices run along the facade on each floor. This results in a double, gabled central projection . This extends over both floors and includes five pilasters. Of these, three pilasters are in turn offset forward. In addition, two smaller side projections were built on the outside of the front. The risalit windows have a skylight , which is separated from the window by the upper cornice. Towards the roof are a surrounding, wooden frieze and a cornice . The flat triangular gable on the south facade is provided with a semicircular arched window.
The upper floor of the central projection is a Justice of zinc on a Trumeaupfeiler . She holds a pair of scales in her left hand and the sword as an attribute in her right hand . However, the figure does not have a blindfold as is usually used in the representation of Justitia. The main portal is on the lower floor. It was built as a step portal with tracery and a designed warrior . The door leaves are made of wood.
The hipped roof of the Pitkin County Courthouse has two chimneys and has at its south side of an ornamented, wooden sill , at the back opposing facade of a corrugation is broken.
The high, square tower that rises from the center of the building is characteristic of the building . The tower has four floors, each separated by a cornice. The bottom floor is simply designed and made of wood. An arched window with a skylight and triangular gable on each side goes over the two middle floors. The windows are framed by two fluted pilasters. The attic has a hipped roof covered with shingles with a three-part dormer on each side of the roof.
history
When the Colorado silver boom broke out in 1879 and Aspen grew from a remote mining settlement to a small town of over 10,000 people, Pitkin County was founded in 1881. With this establishment in the 1880s, a separate courthouse became necessary.
The county government had the courthouse built according to plans by the Denver architect William Quayle . The building was completed and opened in early 1891. The two meter tall Justitia statue was made in Salem, Ohio and cost $ 250. The figure was given a silver color, as the silver ore mining of that time played an important role in Aspen. When mining declined after the silver boom and the population fell again, the courthouse at least remained the administrative seat.
On May 12, 1975, the building was entered on the National Register of Historic Places . Several events at the Pitkin County Courthouse caused a stir in the 1970s. Hunter S. Thompson , the founder of gonzo journalism , tried to become the new county sheriff in 1970. The candidacy was unsuccessful, but it created conflict between the younger and older residents of Aspen. Among other things, Thompson wanted public flogging, so-called bastonads , to be carried out on drug dealers in front of the courthouse . In 1977 there was also a criminal trial against the singer Claudine Longet in the Courthouse . This was suspected of having killed her partner, the ski racer, Vladimir Sabich . Longet was acquitted of murder but found guilty of gross negligence and sentenced to 30 days in prison. Jack Nicholson , a friend of Longet's, attended the negotiations . Also in 1977 the serial killer Ted Bundy was on trial here. Bundy managed the spectacular escape from the courthouse on June 7, 1977 when he went to the library on the second floor during a break in negotiations and fled from there. However, he was arrested again a week later in Aspen.
In 2010 the courthouse was renovated and a new building was added. This had become necessary because the courthouse was not built to accommodate large crowds. That same year, Charlie Sheen stood on trial in the Pitkin County Courthouse after allegedly threatening his then-wife Brooke Mueller with a knife.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Pitkin County. (No longer available online.) Colorado Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, archived from the original on July 18, 2011 ; Retrieved March 10, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Carol A. Grissom: Zinc sculpture in America, 1850-1950 . Ed .: Associated University Presses . 2009, ISBN 978-0-87413-031-7 , pp. 180 ( Online Google Books).
- ↑ a b c # 15 The Pitkin County Court House. Heritage Aspen, accessed April 27, 2011 .
- ^ Judith Resnik, Dennis Curtis: Representing Justice: Invention, Controversy, and Rights in City-States and Democratic Courtrooms . Ed .: Yale University Press . New Haven (Connecticut) 2011, ISBN 978-0-300-11096-8 , pp. 445 ( Online Google Books [accessed April 27, 2011]).
- ↑ Hunter S. Thompson : The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time . Ed .: Simon and Schuster . 2003, ISBN 978-0-7432-5045-0 , pp. 173 ( Online Google Books [accessed April 27, 2011]).
- ↑ Edward Douglas: Jack: The Great Seducer . Ed .: HarperCollins . 2005, ISBN 978-0-06-075767-0 , pp. 157 ( Online Google Books [accessed April 27, 2011]).
- ↑ Fred Rosen: There But for the Grace of God: Survivors of the 20th Century's Infamous Serial Killers . Ed .: HarperCollins . 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-089012-4 , pp. 124 ( Online Google Books [accessed April 27, 2011]).
- ^ Pitkin County Courthouse. Reno-Smith Architects, 2011, accessed April 28, 2011 .
- ↑ Amina Khan: Charlie Sheen charged with felony in alleged assault on wife in Aspen . In: Los Angeles Times . February 8, 2010 ( online [accessed April 28, 2011]).
